Argentine farmers call off strike

By Daniel Schweimler
BBC News, Buenos Aires

Argentina is one of the world's biggest exporters of soya

Farmers in Argentina have agreed to suspend their strike over export taxes which has caused disruption around the country and pushed up food prices.

The four main farmers' organisations said they would restart talks with the government on Wednesday.

Argentina is still a country divided between the government and farmers, urban and rural.

But the farmers' decision to resume negotiations is the first sign of progress in many weeks.

The farmers will lift roadblocks that have been stopping cargoes of soya and wheat from reaching the ports for export.

They are calling on the government to ease what they say are crippling taxes on their exports, especially the lucrative soya crop.

The Argentine government says the tax increase is part of a vital plan to control inflation and redistribute the large profits made on exports, thanks to high prices on international markets.

Argentina is one of the world's biggest producers of soya and wheat, and the shortages caused by the dispute have added to the pressure on world food prices.

It has also contributed to the plummeting popularity of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner's government.

There was pressure from all sides for both the Argentine government and the farmers to return to the negotiating table in a dispute which neither appeared to be winning.